Score-cut slitting mechanism



Aug. 13, 1957 E. A. MASTRIANI ,5

' SCORE-CUT SLITTING MECHANISM '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 9, 1955 1957 E. A. MASTRIANI 2,802,528

SCORE-CUT SLITTING MECHANISM V 3 She ets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 9, 1953 Aug. 13, 1957 E. A. MAST'RIANI SCORE-CUT SLITTING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 9, 1953 ,4 zz ezezziar; j/y/kJZ my 7217a" jjgw i jjp in, v fizzy 1i 2,802,528. SCORE-CUT SLITTING MECHANISM ElvinA. MastrianiyCaldwefl, N. J., assignor to John Dusenbery (30., Inc,, Verona, N. J., a corporation of NewJersey i V Application November 9, 1953, Serial No. 390,852

3 Claims. (Cl. 16 1- 60)- In machines of the class to which this invention relates,

a rotatable-cutting knife is pressed against the web of flexible material as the latter passes over a steel platen,

or backing roll. Such cutting arrangements are known as contact slitters and the two problems associated therewith are the application of a controlled pressure to the cutting knives, and the construction of the cutting knives so as to permit slitting a sheet of material into a plurality of ribbons having relatively narrow widths of the order of /2 inch or less. The pressure of the cutting knife preferably is controlled by providing fluid-actuated arrangements for pressing the knife against the backing roll and while various such arrangements have heretofore been proposed they involve complexand costly constructions that include mechanical levers and/or linkages. Such prior constructions are subject to wear and, in general, require a specific orientation of the cutting knife relative to the backing roll. Relatively'narrow cutting wheel arrangements have also been proposed but these have been of the individual spring-biased type and difiiculty is encountered in maintaining the individual spring tensions so as to produce a uniform pressure of a plurality of cutting Wheels against the backing roll particularly in high speed cutting machines subject to vibration during operation.

In general, it is preferable to have the cutting knivesoperated by air pressure of the order of 60 pounds per equare inch such air pressure system being used for sundry other purposes in paper-cutting establishments. However, so far as I am aware the problem of providing relatively narrow cutting wheels actuated by such airpressure systems has not been solved-heretofore.

Exemplary of the prior art constructions are those disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,043,818 issued on June 9,1936, to A; J. Thibedeau, United States Patent No. 2,541,913 issued on February 13, 1951, to T. N. Carter and United States Patent No. 1,895,852 issued on January 31, 1933, to R. Johnstone.

An object of thisinvention is the provision of a cutting knife for a score-cut slitting machine, which knife is of simple, rugged, economical construction andwhich is of a minimum overall thickness whereby a plurality of such knives can be arranged in side-by-side disposition to cut a sheet of material into a plurality of ribbons of relatively narrow width, say, or the order of /2 inch or less. 1

An object of this invention is the provision of a rotary cutting knife for slitting machines which knife includes a housing adapted for fixed attachment to the machine and a cutting wheel movable outwardly of the housing in response to fluid pressure.

An object of this invention is the provision of a scorecut slitting mechanism comprising a housing, a slide member slidable in alined slots in the housing and carrying Patented Aug. 13, 1957 ice . chine, said wheels being mechanically-biased to an inoperative position away from a backing. roll upon a reduction in the fluid pressure thereby facilitating the threading of the paper over the backing roll and without endangering the operator. Q 1

These and other objects" and advantages will become apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood the drawings are for purposes of illustration and are not to be construed as definin'gthe scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts in the several views:

" Figure 1 is a side view 1llustrating my fluid-pressureoperated cutting Wheel advanced to the operative position relative to a backing roll;

Figure 2 is a central, longitudinal, sectional view of the device shown in Figure l and showing the cutting wheel in the retracted position;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2 and drawn to an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a front view showing a plurality of slitting mechanism arranged in side-by-side relation on a paper slitting machine;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure'4;

Figure 6 is similar to Figure 4 and showing a modified arrangement of the cylinders and connecting hose;

, Figure 7 is an enlarged elevation view of the longitudinally-rigid and laterally-flexible control rod that connects the piston of the air-cylinder to the slide bar carrying the rotary cutting wheel; and

Figure 8 shows several cutting wheels in side-by-side abutting relation and is presented to illustrate the selfsupporting yet laterally-displaceable character of the connections between the air cylinders and the slitter housing.

Referring now to Figures l-3, each cutting mechanism comprises cutting wheel 1 pivotally carried by abifurcated slide bar 3 that is adapted for linear movement within the alined slots 4 formed in the parallel, spaced, metal plates 2 and 2. These plates are separated by a plurality of metal spacers 24, 25, 26, the parts being rigidly secured together by means of suitable, socket screws 5. Threaded into an end of the slide bar 3 is a laterallyflexible control rod 7 that passes through a threaded connector 8 secured to an end of the hose 9, which hose may be either flexible or rigid to meet specific requirements. The control rod, whichwill be described in detail with reference to Figure 7, terminates within a closed cylinder 10 and has attached thereto a piston 11 and a leather, cup-like washer 12, or other suitable means to form a fluid tight seal between the piston and the cylinder. Fluid is admitted into the top of the cylinder through a flexible hose 13 provided with a conventional quick-connect coupling C. it will be apparent that fluid under pressure will force the piston downwardly overcoming the biasing force of the coiled spring 115. Such movement of the piston results in a corresponding movement of the control rod 7, the slide bar 3 and the cutting wheel 1, the latter being pivotally secured to the slide bar by means of a ball bearing 21 and the screw 22.

linear movement of the cutting wheel and that the limit 1 of travel of the wheel, in one direction or the other, is

the slide bar in contact with the wallsdefining the upper I ends of the slots. Those skilled in this art will understand that the pellicle, such as 'a flexible sheet material, to be cut passes over the hardened In Figure 2, the cutting wheel is shown. in the.

paper sheet or other steel backing roll and is slit by the cutting-wheel. The I speed of travel of the pellicle and. the] required contact pressure can be obtained by varying the pressure of the fluid in the cylinden v To facilitate mounting the 'slitter on. a machine the lower portions of the. plates 2, 2' are provided with integral, undercut ends 27. spacedxfrom these ends is a optimum pressure of the cutting wheel againstthe backi ing roll depends upon the thickness, toughnessand thetriangular member pivotally secured between the plates 2, 2' as by a dowel pin. A hardened socket screw 28 operates in a threaded hole in the end plate 16, the latter being secured to the spacer-members 25, 26 by socket screws 3th By turning the socket screw 28 so that it advances downwardly the triangular member 20 willbe forced in -a counter-clockwise directionto lock the entire device on a dovetailed support bar 31 that is attached rigidly to the paperslitting machine.

Attention is directed to the fact that my slitting wheel mechanism is of simple, rugged construction employing a directtransmission of linear motion between the piston of the'air cylinder and the cutting wheel. The elimination of levers and/ or pivot points promotes long, trouble free operation particularly in high speed paper slitting machines wherein the cutting Wheelis forced against the backing roll by a relatively high pressure. Equally important is the fact that a slitting mechanism made in accordance with my invention can be made relatively thin staggered arrangement is shown in Figure 6 wherein the cylinders are positioned in two vertical rows. The flexible hoses 9', connected to the cutting .wheels 2, 4, 6 and 8, are relatively long whereby the associated cylinders may be secured to the upper cross bar 33 whereas the hoses. 9, connected to the cutting wheels 1, 3, Sand 7, are relatively short and the associated cylinders are secured to the lower cross bar 33'. Although I show ample clearance between the flexible hoses of the upper cylinders and thelower cylinders it may be preferred. Such will be apparent that the'housings of the cutting wheel mechanisms can be positioned against each other thereby reducing the widthof the cuts. a

Figure 7 illustrates the control rod which connects the piston of the air cylinder to the slide bar carrying the rotatable cutting wheel. The control rod comprises the metallic rod sections 7a, 7b joined to a bundle of steel wires 70 as by soldering, welding, etc The:lower rod sectionf7ziis provided with-a threaded end adapted for threaded attachment to the slide bar whereas the upper rod section 71; is similarly threaded to accept a cooperating nut for fastening the piston thereto. A coiled spring 7d encircles thefwires 7c and has its ends securely attached to the rod'sections 7 7b, as shown. It will be apparent that such construction results in an arrangemerit which is self-supporting, will transmit forces axially of the red but is laterally-flexible to a certain extent. This'permits the air cylinder to operate the slide bar even thoughthe cylinder axis is not in direct alinement with the plane of movement of the slide bar and the cutting wheel. V i

In more or less permanent installations of the cutting wheels on a paper slitting machine, such as thoseshown in Figures 4-6, the laterally-flexible character of the control rod, when the latter is enclosed within a flexible hose, permits the otf-center'positioning of the air cylinders for attachmentto the cross bars of the machine.

' Also, the positional arrangement of the air cylinders can (permitting a side-by-side mounting of a plurality of cutting wheels to slit a flexible sheet into relatively narrow ribbons, say, /2 inch or less) and the individual cutting wheelscan be actuated by air pressure through air cylinders located remote from the-housing of the slitting wheels.

Figures 46 illustrate. two types of installations of my narrow cutting mechanisms on a paper slitting machine. In Figure 4, the backing roll 23 is shown journaled between side frames, said frames also carrying the dovetailed support bar 31 and a cross bar 33 to which the cylinders 10 are attached. As shown clearly inFigure 5, which is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4, the cylinders are shown closely positioned in two horizontal rows. The front row of cylinders operate the cutting wheels 2, 4, 6 and 8, taken from the left, whereas the rear row of cylinders operate the cutting wheels 1, 3, 5 and 7. Each of the cylinders is connected to a header 34, by the flexible hoses 13, which header is connected to a suitable source of fluid pressure, as by a hose 35, and serves as a distribution means for feeding such fluid under pressure to'the various cylinders connected thereto. Those of the header openings to which cylinders are not connected are, of course, closed with a suitable cap. In practice, I employ cylinders having an outside diameter of approximately 1 inch and make the thickness of the cutting wheel mechanism somewhat less than inch. Consequently, with the cylinders arranged as shown in Figures 4 and 5 the cutting wheelmechanisms can be set side-by-side along the support bar 31 to slit the paper sheet into a plurality of ribbons having a width somewhat less than /2 inch.

While in the Figures 4, 5 arrangement all of the flexible connecting hoses are of equal lengths thereby promoting manufacturing economy, a staggered arrangement beachieved with rigid hose or pipe by prebending such pipe as required. However, in a majority of cases it is preferable that the installation of the cuttingwheels oifer a maximum of flexibility to permit the ready addition or removal of cutting wheels to meet varying requirements. It is in such arrangement that the construction of my cutting mechanisms affords decided advantages over prior devices of this type. Since the control rod is of a self-supporting character there is no necessity to secure the air cylinders to supporting members carried by the machine. Figure 8 shows several cutting wheel mechanisms mounted in side-by-side abutting relation on the dovetailed bar 31 to provide the narrowest cuts. The air cylinders 10 are supported by the control rod and hose 9. Sincethe rod and hose. are laterallybendablejthe air cylinders can be of .agdiameterexceeding various parts will occur to those skilled in this art. -Although I prefer to use a flexible hose between thefluid cylinder and the cutting wheel housing such hose may be rigid and pre-bent to desired shape to meet specified de sign'requirements. 'Furtherfin'the event fluid-operated mechanisms are not required acoiled spring, such as the spring 15 shown in the other side ofthe piston'to force the cutting wheel agains't thebacking mu in the latter case the pres- Figure 2 can: be positioned on inder.

sure of the cutting wheel against the backing roll can be varied by providing a threaded end cap on the cylinder whereby screwing the end cap in one direction or the other will compress the spring more or less between the end cap and the piston. These and other variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a cylindrical rotary backing member; of a score-cut slitting unit associated therewith including an elongated slide bar having a bifurcated end and being mounted for sliding movement along its longitudinal axis, a cutting wheel rotatably carried by and between the bifurcations of said slide bar for movement therewith in both directions, means guiding the slide bar for radial movement with respect to said backing member, a cylinder one end of which is adapted to receive fluid under pressure, a piston slidably housed within the said cylinder, a laterally flexible rod having one end connected to the piston, said rod passing outwardly from the other end of the cylinder and having its other end connected to the slide bar, and spring means biasing the piston toward the first-mentioned end of the cyl- 2. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the cylinder is flexibly mounted on said guiding means for movement laterally of the axis thereof, and wherein the laterally flexible rod comprises axially spaced rigid rod sections, a plurality of wires having ends secured to ad- 6 jacent ends of said rod sections, and a helical spring encircling said wires and having its ends secured to said rod sections.

3. The invention as recited in claim 1, including a plurality of said units closely spaced to thereby form narrow widths of slit material, and in which the laterally flexible rod of each allows the cylinders to be of a diameter exceeding the spacing distance and offset from the lines of movement of said 'slide bar s.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 246,892 Marshall Sept. 13, 1881 263,963 Spooner Sept. 5, 1882 1,179,205 Marks Apr. 11, 1916 1,319,477 Lasker Oct. 21, 1919 1,630,054 Lebeis Aug. 7, 1928 1,850,853 Smith Mar. 22, 1932 1,895,852 Johnstone Jan. 31, 1933 2,073,108 Kesling Mar. 9, 1937 2,124,368 Eisenhand July 19, 1938 2,292,723 Stocker Aug. 11, 1942 2,541,913 Carter e Feb. 13, 1951 2,615,379 De Groft Oct. 28, 1952 2,681,702 Kuenn et a1. June 22, 1954 2,712,852 Carter July 12, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 59,471 Germany Oct. 21, 1891 

